


A Brother's Kindness

by NighttimeSabbatical



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 11:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17160851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NighttimeSabbatical/pseuds/NighttimeSabbatical
Summary: As the seventh anniversary of the Scarlet Night looms ever closer, Velvet spurns sleep, deeming exhaustion a fair price to pay for the avoidance of Celica's screams plaguing her dreams. Arthur, however, has different ideas.





	A Brother's Kindness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ProPinkist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProPinkist/gifts).



Velvet moved silently, just as Arthur had taught her to. By only dim candlelight, she practiced forms: crouch, uppercut, pivot, balance; leaping sidestep, kick, jump back, stand.  
  
As far as she was concerned, she was the only one in the world now, and nothing mattered but her forms. The threat of drowsiness hid somewhere behind her eyes, but so long as she kept going, she would not succumb.  
  
She told herself she was training in the middle of the night in order to better protect Laphi, but deep down, she knew the truth—it was to avoid the nightmares that had plagued her for the past few months, as the next Scarlet Night loomed ever closer.  
  
She dreamed of Celica's screams as she died, of daemons ripping the baby from her stomach. They would then pursue Velvet and Laphi; she couldn’t see them, but she could hear them, grunting and spitting and snarling. Inevitably, Laphi would begin to lag, and as Velvet turned to catch him—  
  
For weeks she'd tried everything she could think of to keep herself awake to avoid the nightmares, but nothing had worked until she'd gotten the idea to practice forms. She'd done it for the past few nights, exhausting herself until she fell in a heap on her bed. A blessedly dreamless sleep would take her, then—not entirely restful, but for the avoidance of the nightmares, she'd take nearly anything.  
  
But as her mind wandered, she was bound to slip up. Up till now, whenever she'd fumbled she managed to keep herself from making noise; this time, however, as her feet slipped out from under her she fell backwards, landing on her butt with a decided _thump_.  
  
She refrained from crying out, but in the silent house, the sound of her fall roared in her ears. She remained still, listening for any movement.  
  
But nothing. Good—she could continue. So she stood and resumed her forms.  
  
She'd barely started before a quiet cough jolted her from her exercise. Arthur, in the doorway—suddenly she stood at attention. She opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. She couldn't quite meet his eyes, either.  
  
"Practicing your forms, I see."  
  
"Yes," she said, and nothing more. If he wanted to know why, he'd have to pry it from her. It seemed childish, now; practicing forms to avoid nightmares. She didn't want him to think her childish.  
  
"Well, if you're training your body at this hour, perhaps you should train your mind as well. Don't you think so?"  
  
"I guess," she said slowly, utterly unable to tell where he was going with this.  
  
"Good." He took the candle from her dresser. "Follow me."  
  
He led her to the kitchen and motioned for her to sit at the table while he retrieved a thick stack of books from his room. Velvet swallowed a sudden wave of apprehension, since her edutcation until now had just been the basics. Laphi was the smartypants of the family, not her.  
  
"I think it's time you started learning the Ancient Tongue," he said, flipping through a particularly daunting tome. "Now, let's see …"  
  
And he began to read. Velvet tried to pay attention, she really did. But inevitably, she grew drowsy, lulled by Arthur's soft voice speaking in the incomprehensible Ancient Tongue. She closed her eyes for a moment, just to rest them, and at what seemed the very next moment Arthur was picking her up and heading for her room.  
  
"I wasn't sleeping," she mumbled.  
  
He didn't bother answering her.  
  
The next thing she was aware of was being tucked into bed, and in spite of herself, Velvet relished in the soft warmth of her mattress and blanket. Just because she had her eyes closed didn't mean she had to fall asleep, right? Maybe just a little nap …  
  
Arthur lingered. Velvet nearly opened her eyes before she felt him brush her bangs back from her forehead and press a soft kiss to her brow. The action shocked her—Arthur was never openly affectionate like this, not even with Celica. He must have thought her well and truly asleep.  
  
"Dearest Velvet," he murmured. "You need not be plagued by nighmares and worry. What happened to Celica and our child will never happen to anyone else. This, I promise."  
  
As he left, her heart surged with love for him. So he'd noticed—of course he had. Arthur noticed everything.  
  
For the first time in weeks, Velvet fell asleep with ease.  
  
Arthur would protect them. He was here to stay—she need not worry.


End file.
